Today at 10 am PDT (1 pm ET) Richard Garriott (aka Lord British and the creator of the Ultima series), and Uber Entertainment CTO Jon Mavor (creator of Planetary Annihilation) will take part in a Google+ Hangout to talk about virtual space domination, asteroid mining and the similarities between multiplayer gaming and crowd-controlled space telescopes.

Both Garriott and Mavor are supporters of Planetary Resources, the asteroid mining company, and its quest to crowd fund ARKYD – the world’s first space telescope controlled by the public. ARKYD will supposedly enable gamers to use their skills in a real-life challenge that has the potential to save the planet from extinction-caliber asteroids.

During the Hangout, Mavor will also detail plans to incorporate an ARKYD spacecraft into Uber’s upcoming Planetary Annihilation video game, as well as share exclusive details on how campaign backers can get a free digital copy of the game (a $90 value) and a Planetary Commander avatar.

You can fund ARKYD by visiting its Kickstarter page. The crowdfunding campaign ends in 59 hours - as of this writing - and has managed to raise $241,364 over its funding goal. Check out the video to your left for more details.